Difference Between Android Pay and Apple Pay

Difference Between Android Pay and Apple Pay

The main difference between Android Pay and Apple Pay is that the Apple Pay is only able to support a few high-end devices whereas Android Pay is able to support a variety of devices, including budget phones.

Android Pay and Apple pay are used in making wireless payment with the use of mobile phones. These two payments are supported by Android and iOS. Apple pay was the first to be announced in September 2014. It was announced with iPhone 6. The Google version of the mobile payment was announced at I/O 2015 after originally being mentioned in March of 2015.

Android Pay

Android Pay is now available in the US and will be made available in other countries as well in the recent future. But this could take a while as the competition for this space has not heated up. The security features of the mobile payment systems will have major concerns since a great amount of money is involved with the transactions that take place on this systems; if the security features fail, this payment method will turn out to be a failure The bank and Google have a different way of providing the user with the transaction when compared with the standard contactless method.

Technology

Android Pay uses NFC technology in order to communicate with the terminal as with Apple Pay. NFC is known as Near-field communication which is a wireless standard used is in smartphones and tablets. In the past, NFC was used mainly for pairing Bluetooth-based wireless devices; it was only recently that it began to be used for payment purposes. In the UK, Apple Pay and Android Pay are supported in places that have contactless payments.

App Support

Android Pay is able to operate well on the online side of things as well with in-store transactions. The online payment system is strong due to the availability of Google Wallet for a long time. There are also many companies which accept Android Pay like Uber, Travelocity and Domino’s, which further strengthen the payment scheme.

Support

Android device is supported on any device which supports Android Kit Kat 4.4 or newer versions; it is also supported by devices that have NFC. Due to this reason, it is able to support a variety of device including budget ones.

Security

If the security features are not up to the mark when mobile payments are being made, key information can be leaked. Actually, the process of the mobile payment is done by creating a virtual card which puts an extra level of protection. Another layer of protection has been added with fingerprint authentication.

Apple Pay

Apple pay is supported by iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S Plus. For the time being, it is only supported in the USA and the UK, but it has the potential to expand all over the world soon.

Support

iPhone 5S users can also make use of the Apple pay feature by combining it with an Apple Watch. The transaction is done by creating a virtual card which does not contain any actual bank details. Therefore, there will be no security issues with the transaction. The user has to register with Apple Pay, and the amount will be removed from the account for the purchase involved.

Technology

The NFC features are used to communicate with the terminal. This feature has been available with Android and Window for many years, but it was only recently that Apple was able to add it to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Availability

Apple Pay, like Android pay, has restrictions on use for now because it is limited to the country which the user lives in. But it is able to be used in over 700,000 stores in the US and this number is growing still. Apple pay also comes with the ability to be integrated into company applications to make it more user-friendly and secure.

There are only a few phones that have the capability to support Apple Pay, but this is mainly due to technical issues. NFC is only found on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which is why these are the only phones that support Apple Pay and come with the NFC chip. iPad Air 2 also comes with the NFC chip but does not have the necessary peripherals to support the payment option. The Apple iPad is able to support in-app Apple Pay although direct terminal support in not available.

Security

One of the major worries when doing mobile payments is when key information like card data can be leaked into an unauthorized person’s hands. The mobile payment is further protected thanks to fingerprint authentication which provides an extra layer of protection.

Difference Between Android Pay and Apple Pay

Launch Date

Android Pay:Android Pay was launched on September 2015.

Apple Pay:Apple Pay was launched on September 2014.

Supported Phones

Android Pay:This is available on all Android 4.4 and above and NFC supported phones.

Apple Pay:This is available with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Supported Countries

Android Pay: As of now, Android Pay is available in the US.

Apple Pay: As of now, Apple Pay is available in the US and the UK.

Android Pay vs Apple Pay – Summary

The main similarity between Android Pay and Apple Pay is that both mobile payment methods use NFC for payments. When they both come near an NFC terminal, both payment modes start automatically. Unlike Samsung Pay, these payment methods don’t work with traditional terminals. Both are equally matched in many aspects, and there is no clear winner between the two. Both come armed with similar security features and technology. Android Pay may have some advantage as it is able to support many phones when compared with Apple Pay. Apple pay is only able to support recent high-end phones iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus.